Italy! the short of it

Hannah, Glen, and I just spent just over 2 wonderful weeks in Italy. That means there is a lot of potential material for me to write about--the desire to be short and concise and the desire to be thorough and detailed warring with each other...so there are going to be several posts.

Short and concise:

Tues March 5th-Milan/Milano

     Jet lagged, store-bought gelato and meals, Italian TV (some Italian shows, some American shows with Italian audio, and some American shows in English)

Wed March 6th-Venice/Venezia

    TONS of walking, beautiful streets, rained on us a bit, went to a classical music concert, and eating gelato, of course (everywhere we went we ate gelato) 

Fri March 8th-Pompeii

     Hired a private tour guide for 2 hours, then wandered around a bit on our own.  Awesome place. Pizza near the birthplace of pizza, Naples/Napoli.

Sat March 9th-Rome/Roma

     Hit the Visitors Center for the LDS Rome temple and then took in a session in the temple, which turned out to be in Spanish and not Italian!

Sun March 10th-Rome

     Rome 4th ward actually had translators for us in Sacrament meeting and Relief Society (but not for Glen in Elders Quorum). Didn't see anything else in Rome. Next time.

Mon March 11th-Florence/Firenze

     Couldn't see the statue of David by Michelangelo because the museum is closed on Mondays. Gorgeous city (well, they all are).

Tues March 12th-Florence, Lucca, Pisa

     Wound up staying an extra night in Florence, but the tickets to see David were sold out. Went to a little paleontology museum instead. Not the same, but good enough.

     On our way to Silvano d'Orba, we made 2 stops in Tuscany: Lucca (a small walled city where we rented a bike for a short while) and Pisa (which needs no introduction).

Wed March 13th and Thurs March 14th-Silvano d'Orba 

     Glen's grandfather was born in Silvano before immigrating to the US at 3 years of age. Have the address of where he lived as a baby and took photos of it. Went to several cemeteries. Met the Mayor who invited us back in a few days.

Fri March 15th-Turin/Turino

     Glen's second cousin, Grazia, whom he met last summer when she and her boyfriend, Lionello, came to the US, lives in Turin. On Friday, Lionello took us on a tour of Turin while Grazia was at work and then we had dinner with Grazia and Lionello. 

Sat March 16th-Sacra di San Michele (St. Michael's Abbey)

     Had a day trip with Grazia and Lionello to the Sacra di San Michele. From the abbey, there is a breathtaking view where you can see the alps and the valley that Hannibal entered with his elephants in 218 B.C. on his way to battle with Rome.

Sun March 17th-Alessandria and Silvano d'Orba 

    Church in Alessandria with no translator this time.  Then we headed back to Silvano to meet with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for a tour of a local grappa distillery. Then they brought us to a restaurant and hotel owned by a Perasso family. Could not figure out how we might be related, but we're sure we must be.

Mon March 18th-Ovada and Silvano d'Orba and then Milan

     We spent some time in the next town over from Silvano, Ovada, which is a bit bigger than Silvano.
     Then we met up with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and someone else (Pierre?). They took us to the home that the first Perassos who moved to Silvano owned. Didn't get a date for that happening. Drove to Milan that night.

Tues March 19th-flew home

     Had trouble getting to the airport. Just barely made our flight from Milan to Frankfort. Flew into San Francisco and rented a car to get us back to Reno. Glen and I arrived home just before midnight.

What a fabulous trip!

finishing up 2023

So much has happened in the last 4 months. I've been to Rexburg twice. In September, Hannah and I took Alex back to college and I got to meet Melody. Then Glen, Eric, and I drove to Rexburg at the end of September for Melody's baby blessing on October 1st. We enjoyed General Conference while we were there.

Alex had his birthday and our nephew Joseph married Amanda in October, after which came Glen's Chautauqua (a class he taught and participated in from our local museum). 

My Mom came with Denise at the beginning of November, allowing Denise and me to see Hannah in the play "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" put on by the Reno Little Theater before Denise had to fly out again. Fabulous production! Great job done by all 6 cast members playing a ton of roles.

Other November happenings: Joy turned 6 and Eric turned 32. 

Glen, Eric, Mom, and I went to see Hannah in her play on her birthday at the beginning of December. Then I had my birthday, the celebration of which included lunch and crafting with my friends.

And then it was Christmas! Alex came home from college. Hannah came in as well. I think we had a wonderful time together.

Later that week, we attended Hannah's December Party. There were 4 areas-- birthday (which wall included Hannah and me, of course, and then 4 of her friends who attended the party as well), Christmas, New Year's, and "Good Feelings" (where you write down the things that make you happy and post them on the wall--sadly, I didn't get a picture of that wall).

And then New Year's Day, Eric tested positive for COVID. That meant that while they were negative, Glen went to stay with his dad so he continue to take care of him and Alex had to go elsewhere as well so he could go back to school on time and without COVID. So, last week was a quiet week here with Eric staying in his room all week and mom and me not going out much either. Alex has since returned to school and Eric was still testing positive on Friday. We need to test him again...

I tried to put the photos in chronological order, but was unsuccessful...

 A few months ago, Andrew and his family went to California 

aren't these photos I stole from Andrew's blog great?

Kyrie's first Christmas!

Ryan holding cousin Teddy and Alex with Melody

Glen, me, and Eric proving we were in Rexburg with Alex

Eric and Glen in our hotel room enjoying Conference

Melody meeting her grandpa for the first time

Glen taught and participated in a Chautauqua

Glen as Fallonite Ernest Loring

the play is about to begin

in the hallway you could put the names of the angels in your life and ring a bell!

taking a bow at the end

birthday cheesecake and I got a Yahtzee (on the 1st roll, I think)!

our Advent Calendar puzzle--we loved doing it

started off saying "SANTA ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS" and it grew from there

here's where the photo's really get out of order

pickle hunting one tree #1!

Eric opening a gift by tree #2

mom's turn

not Christmas night, but the cows got out and we helped herd them back

Hannah's December party-the Christmas room full of giveaways

I had this same saying up 9-10 years ago and thought I'd do a repeat

Hannah's December party-the birthday wall (and the was a New Year's wall and a Good Feelings wall)

Dad P opening a gift

Hannah (in A Christmas Story pjs), Alex, and Glen

Alex was the pickle finder so he got to hand out the first gift

Alex, Eric, and Hannah waiting for the pickle to be hidden in the tree

we woke up to snow on Christmas morning--it soon melted

part of our crafting for my birthday celebration with friends

Hannah, freshly-shaved Eric, Glen, me, and mom at the play

Hannah taking a well-deserved bow

Dory and Melody a few days after Christmas

Melody on Christmas Eve

Ryan and Melody on Christmas Eve